Ask a roomful of consumers, "Who here hates to see things go to waste?" and every hand will likely shoot up. But, if everyone hates to waste, then how come we generate so much of it? And what can we do to prevent waste from being created in the first place?

When designer Monica Potvin and her husband Marquel bought a small apartment in Barcelona's Poble Nou neighborhood, they had no plans of having children so they knocked down walls to create an open studio space with plenty of light.

Over the past few years I've filmed a Lego-style transforming flat, a unit with a walk-thru shower and fridge-in-a-drawer and a small space where the architect cut a hole in the roof to create an indoor/outdoor shower.

John MacPeek has fond memories of living out of a suitcase when he first moved to Europe over two decades ago, so when he was looking to buy an apartment in Barcelona, he was ready to live in something compact where everything he owned was accounted for.

This week I released via YouTube -- in an attempt to make it some type of "of the people, for the people" -- my documentary We the Tiny House People: Small Homes, Tiny Flats & Wee Shelters in the New and Old World.

I continue to discover people who aren't even aware of this movement: iving in shipping containers, houseboats, tool sheds, former pigeon coops and treehouses. These stripped-down shelters reveal for us the essence of home.